Love Supreme, A - John Coltrane > Reviews > Trane's greatest gift. Unsurpassed.

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Groundbreaking
Lyrics	Not applicable
Quality and consistency of tracks	Flawless
Value for Money	Excellent

Advantages:	In a word .  .  .  .  . Genius
Disadvantages:	Might just stop you from getting anything done

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Whe I first heard the opening bars of "A Love Supreme" on a TV show I quickly grabbed a pen and paper and wrote down the name of the track and the artist. So began my love affair with this man's work, and, if there is a pinnacle to his extraordinary career, this is it.

First conceived in late summer of 1964, this is John's gift to God based on his earlier struggles and final release from various addictions. He wrote the whole suite mainly without his instrument in an upstairs room at his Long Island house, simply "receiving" the music directly into his soul, whilst his wife Alice tended to the children downstairs. He spent several days on the music and as Alice later recalled when he would appear after working "It was like Moses coming down from the mountain, it was so beautiful. He walked down and there was that joy, that peace in his face". The album does indeed have a very spiritual theme running through it and you can feel all the conflicts and beauty of a life in progress.

Later Coltrane (tenor sax) took band mates McCoy Turner (piano), Jimmy Garrison (Bass) and Elvin Jones (Drums) into Van Gelder recording studio in New Jersey USA on December 9th 1964 and laid down what has become a landmark in Jazz.

Opening with "Acknowledgement", a three note bass riff that Coltrane weaves his improvisatory lines over in free time, extending his ideas as he goes whilst cymbals crash in the background, this leads into what for me is the best track of the four as the drums pick up the beat and he goes on a solo masterclass that never sounds like just technique. It is "true" music, straight from his heart to the horn.

"Resolution" is a more up-tempo number, with an almost Arabic sounding riff that is powerful yet sensitive and seductive as Coltrane once again flies along a spiritual wave.

The final two tracks, "Pursuance" and "Psalm" run as one on the CD and whilst the former follows the same feel as "Resolution", "Psalm" is almost a prayer, Coltranes luscious, yearning sax lines playing over a beatless background, phrasing directly to a poem he had written as a gift to God. You can actually read the poem and follow the words in the music. There is no virtuoso display of technique here. This is musicianship of the highest order, where phrasing and touch and tone are everything.

Clocking in at only just half an hour, this is a CD to be savoured in one sitting, no track skipping is either necessary or even sensible. This is a work as a whole, to be enjoyed as a whole and whilst "Acknowledgement" is my favourite of the four, I never find myself stopping the CD after it has finished.

There are standout solo moments from the other band members too, especially from McCoy, but it is John Coltrane who resonates long after the music has finished.

If you think you don't like Jazz, you really should try this album and if you think you do, this is absolutely essential listening. Along with Miles Davis' "Kind of Blue", this a jazz album that reached a far wider audience than the genre, simply because it is THAT good.